A USC Trojan Fan's Perspective of the Texas Longhorns

As the title of this piece suggests, I am a fan of the USC Trojans. More specifically, I am a disappointed fan of the USC Trojans.

The 2009 college football season has been one of chagrin of both myself and my fellow fans of the Men of Troy.

Nonetheless, I remain, even in this time of abject angst over my Trojans, a fan of college football.

As such, I cozied up to my television, fat from too much holiday eats, and prepared to watch what I thought was the best college football team in the land, the Texas Longhorns.

Now, I am not so sure.

Yes, the Longhorns impressed me on offense.

My Heisman vote, if I were to have one, would be directly deposited into the account of Colt McCoy, who is a marvellous talent. Hell, I might even be convinced to cast my ballot for Jordan Shipley, McCoy's roommate and a fantastic wide receiver in his own right.

The Longhorn offense, in my opinion, is among the very best in the land.

However, there is more to a football team than just the offense. And what I saw last night of the Texas defense has given me cause to pause.

Texas A&M, an up-and-coming team with some nice young talent, but still only a .500 team, ran and passed through the Longhorn defense with impunity.

How does 532 total yards and 39 points sound?

To the Longhorns and their faithful fans, probably like an out of tune garage band.

For me, last night only served to reinforce what I already suspected: that this year, there is no completely dominant college football team.

Florida, Alabama, and now Texas have all displayed significant chinks in its armor.

I remain unconvinced as to the quality of teams such as Boise State and TCU.

In a season where traditional powerhouses such as my Trojans and Oklahoma have been mediocre at best, even those with unblemished records have significant warts.

Of course, there is still time for the Texas defense to right its ship.

In the Big 12 championship game, they should easily handle Nebraska.

And certainly they are in the drivers seat to meet either Florida or Alabama in the national championship game. In that game, they will have an opportunity to show the nation that they are indeed a  championship team.

But they won't do it with the kind of defensive effort I witnessed last night.

And unless some team displays a complete team game that shows excellence on both sides of the ball, this season will continue, for me, to be what it already has been.

A disappointment.